Structures of test-taking stratigies : what test-talking strategies are useful for the TOEIC reading sections?

This study explored what strategies are used when Japanese college students sit for tests. English proficiency tests such as the TOEIC or the TOEFL have been popular in recent years in Japan, both in academic and employment situations. However, few studies have examined the strategies test-takers use, while numerous studies have been conducted on general learning strategies and strategies for specific skills such as listening or speaking. This study explored the structures of test-taking strategies, especially for the TOEIC reading sections by collecting possible strategies, examining them one by one, pilot testing them and finally extracting six groups of test taking strategies using exploratory factor analysis. As a result of this study, we successfully developed a 66-item questionnaire called SITT (Strategy Inventory for Test Taking). By employing the SITT with Japanese college students, this study investigated the most and least frequently used strategies. The results indicated that metacognitive strategies were not frequently used and that specific reading strategies such as making inferences and selective attention were frequently used

Trends and Practical Issues in Collaboration between Communities and Schools: Focusing on School Management Councils and Community Schools

This paper aimed to summarize trends in educational policies, pedagogical research, and educational practices concerning communities and schools, and to clarify the practical matters of school-based community development, especially practical development and issues concerning collaboration between communities and schools, with a focus on school management councils and community schools. To this end, we examined trends in educational policies in terms of collaboration between communities and schools. Next, we explored trends in pedagogical research and educational practices from three perspectives (educational methods, educational administration, and social education), and their regional development and issues. Then, from the perspective of collaboration between different types of schools and between schools and local communities, we investigated discuss two local practices (Waki-Cho in Yamaguchi Prefecture and Niseko-Cho in Hokkaido) that promote advanced practices through the establishment of school management councils. Finally, based on the field research, we examined the significance of these practices and future topics

EGUIDE project and treatment guidelines

Aim: Although treatment guidelines for pharmacological therapy for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder have been issued by the Japanese Societies of Neuropsychopharmacology and Mood Disorders, these guidelines have not been well applied by psychiatrists throughout the nation. To address this issue, we developed the ‘Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE)’ integrated education programs for psychiatrists to disseminate the clinical guidelines. Additionally, we conducted a systematic efficacy evaluation of the programs. Methods: Four hundred thirteen out of 461 psychiatrists attended two 1‐day educational programs based on the treatment guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder from October 2016 to March 2018. We measured the participants’ clinical knowledge of the treatment guidelines using self‐completed questionnaires administered before and after the program to assess the effectiveness of the programs for improving knowledge. We also examined the relation between the participants’ demographics and their clinical knowledge scores. Results: The clinical knowledge scores for both guidelines were significantly improved after the program. There was no correlation between clinical knowledge and participant demographics for the program on schizophrenia; however, a weak positive correlation was found between clinical knowledge and the years of professional experience for the program on major depressive disorder. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that educational programs on the clinical practices recommended in guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder might effectively improve participants’ clinical knowledge of the guidelines. These data are encouraging to facilitate the standardization of clinical practices for psychiatric disorders